1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle door structure that includes a slidable opening/closing type slide door and a swingable opening/closing type swing door.
2. Related Background Art
For example, a vehicle door structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-46271 is known as a vehicle door structure of the related art. The vehicle door structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-46271 includes a slide door that opens and closes a front area of a rear door opening portion, a swing door that opens and closes a rear area of the rear door opening portion along with the slide door, an outer handle that is provided in an outer surface of the slide door and is used to open and close the slide door, an inner handle that is provided in an inner surface of the slide door and is used to open and close the slide door, and an opening and closing handle that is provided in a front edge of the swing door and is used to open and close the swing door. The slide door slides in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body through a slide mechanism. The swing door rotates with respect to the vehicle body through a hinge mechanism while overlapping the slide door. Further, the vehicle door structure includes a swing door opening and closing regulation mechanism that connects (locks) the swing door and the vehicle body to each other when the swing door is fully closed.
However, the following problems exist in the related art. That is, there is a need to open the swing door by the operation of the opening and closing handle when the locking between the swing door and the vehicle body is released. Accordingly, there is a need to switch the outer handle or the inner handle to the opening and closing handle when the slide door is opened and then the swing door is opened, and hence the operation efficiency is degraded.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door structure capable of improving the efficiency of an operation of opening a slide door and then opening a swing door.